Florida Teen Collin Griffith Acquitted of Murdering Mother Catherine Griffith 2 Years After Fatally Shooting Father

A Florida teenager accused of murdering his mother was found not guilty on all charges.

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Collin Griffith previously killed his father in self-defense.

In September, Catherine Griffith died from a stab wound, and her son called 911 saying she had fell on a knife.

“He has painted a picture that his mom lunged at him with a knife, tripped, and somehow fell on the knife. That’s preposterous,” the state prosecutor said.

Prior to moving in with his mother, Griffith had also killed his father in Oklahoma, which was ruled as self-defense.

Collin’s grandfather also spoke about a concerning conversation he had with Collin just months before Catherine’s death.

“He said ‘my mom, I keep thinking over and over I want to slit her throat, I want her to bleed out, I want to smell the blood’,” Catherine’s father Robert Walantas testified.

The teen’s defense team told the jury he acted in self-defense the day his mother died, and told the jury that Catherine committed “suicide by son”.

The teen’s grandmother confirmed that Catherine had numerous suicidal attempts.

Ring camera video played during the court hearing revealed that Catherine drove from Port Charlotte to Auberndale to get her son the day she died, because she was afraid of him violating his ongoing court orders.

The defense argued that Collin made it known multiple times that he will defend himself if his mother attacks him.

“He’s telling people ‘I don’t feel safe, I don’t want to go back with my mom’ and they kept making him do that,” Defense Attorney Amy Porinchak Thornhill said.

After less than 12 hours of deliberation Collin Griffith was found not guilty by the jury, on both the murder and kidnapping charges.

Friends of the family said they are unsure of where he will live once he is released.